Walkability Workshops

byEric FredericksonFebruary 13, 2010

Walkable Neighborhoods assists communities, neighborhood and activist groups, regional and state governments, and many other groups and organizations in making their cities and towns pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly. We also make presentations at conferences, K-12 schools, colleges and universities, and other promotional events.

Walkability Workshops

One of the most effective ways we can assist your community is through the Walkability Workshops program. Generally, a workshop consists of a four-hour morning or afternoon session where participants will get to see the chosen neighborhood with a fresh, new perspective.

The local group or agency hosting the workshop has an important task—getting the right people to the workshop. This may include local citizens, engineers, planners, elected officials, health officials, school officials and organizations, public safety agencies, citizens with disabilities, and many other stakeholders. We will provide guidance on who to invite, based on the host’s goals for the workshop.

The Walkable Neighborhoods staff will empower the workshop participants with the necessary knowledge to make their neighborhoods more pedestrian-friendly. From our comprehensive graphic database, we will present images of walkable and not-so-walkable communities around the globe, including some positive examples from your region. The presentation will stress the importance of walkability and provide tools to increase your community’s economic viability and distinctive character, as well as improve residents’ health and safety and regional air quality.

The “walkabout,” when participants actually walk (or bike, or even ride in a wheelchair) within a designated study area, is what distinguishes our workshops. Participants get an on-the-ground opportunity to recognize satisfactory and unsatisfactory conditions for cyclists and pedestrians, especially those with special needs, including children, the elderly, and persons with physical disabilities. This can be quite an eye-opening experience, as many participants will never have walked through the chosen neighborhood before and experienced the barriers that pedestrians face on a daily basis.

After the walkabout, we encourage participants to formulate creative approaches to improving walkability in the chosen neighborhood. As a team, participants create a list of city-wide policies and programs that enhance pedestrian and bicycling safety. Participants are then asked what steps they will take to make their neighborhood or community a more livable place. This can often be the most powerful and rewarding segment of the workshop.

Walkable Neighborhoods will provide all of the materials and advice you will need to prepare for the workshops. Our team members draw on their extensive experience with walkable communities issues to create workshops that uniquely fit your community. We will also assist your organization’s staff after the workshops, providing additional resources and training when necessary.

We are happy to customize the length or focus of the workshop (popular topics include safe routes to school, economic development, trail development and utilization, among others). We offer rates that are highly competitive within the marketplace, but because of our busy schedule and the amount of preparation necessary, booking several months in advance is encouraged. Please contact Eric Fredericks at eric (at) neighborhoods.org or 916-669-0676 if you are interested in hosting a workshop.

Presentations

What makes a Walkable Neighborhoods presentation unique? First of all, our presentations are entertaining—our slide presentations focus on images, not text. Also, we challenge the audience to make a difference in their communities, starting today.

Nearly everyone can agree that there needs to be real solutions to many of the crises our world faces: obesity, rising oil costs, air pollution, missing sense of community, safety, mobility for all persons, and many more. We focus on easily implemented approaches to achieving a higher quality of life for generations to come.

We are available to speak to nearly any group size or at any event. Rates are competitive and vary depending on travel distance and type of event. Please contact Eric Fredericks at eric (at) neighborhoods.org or 916-669-0676 if you would like us to present at your function.